In 1946, the report “Towards a Prouder Preston” was published. This resulted in many plans being submitted that never came to pass. These included a massive bus/rail interchange on the site of the current station and a radical redesign of the area around the Harris. Here we take a look at what might have been. Notably a Labour Government had been elected in 1945, on the hopes of a better future. Its main task was replacing the housing destroyed during the war as well as town planning.
Interestingly the 1946 plan shows the proposed ring road even at this early date. It is a very public transport oriented plan, with no less that two large bus stations, as well as a new rail interchange. The proposed station rebuild would have been massive and did not anticipate the rise of the private car. There is no sign that Fishergate was not to maintain its use as a main road. In fact the only car park shown is off Fishergate, behind the proposed Civic Hall. Large areas are reserved for retail space.
The red buildings on the plan were to be new builds. A new civic hall was to be the centrepiece. Oddly the design was classical rather than modernist. It would have matched the Harris, indicating a desire to maintain links with the past. This did not happen in most towns, with ugly modernist buildings being grafted on to older buildings. Unfortunately, Preston actually got an unloved tower block as the new Town Hall, rather than the proposed classical building.
The buildings marked 14 on the plan were to have been a new health centre. This anticipated the founding of the NHS in 1948. The health centre was to be next to a proposed police headquarters building. There is also an education centre shown. This is much smaller than the UCLan complex that actually arose.
In the central area there was to have been a processional way. In the above illustration the Harris is at the bottom right. Sessions House is next to it with the tower. None of the above buildings, behind the Harris, were ever constructed. The porticoed building at the top centre was to have been the new civic hall.
What the area actually looks like today is shown below. There was considerable redevelopment, but nothing like the 1946 plan. The most noticeable difference being the Guild Hall and the 1969 bus station. Note that the modern Town Hall is off to the right of the image.
In contrast to the classical civic hall, the proposed rail interchange was to have been a modernist nightmare. The Victorian station would have disappeared under a mass of concrete. The bridge in the image above would have carried Fishergate. The station building itself looks like a prison block and the bus station is even stranger. The building that is suspended over the running lines is another oddity. The plan had good and bad elements but the redevelopment that actually happened was more piecemeal.
Follow Geoffrey on Twitter for more Preston history.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines